The Reading anchor statements place equal emphasis on the sophistication of what students read and the skill with which they read. They define a grade-by-grade “staircase” of increasing text complexity that rises from beginning reading to the college and career readiness level. Whatever they are reading, students must also show a steadily growing ability to discern more from and make fuller use of text, including making an increasing number of connections among ideas and between texts, considering a wider range of textual evidence, and becoming more sensitive to inconsistencies, ambiguities, and poor reasoning in texts.

(CR) Close Reading of Text

By the end of grade 12, read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences and relevant connections from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.

(CI) Central Ideas and Themes of Texts

By the end of grade 12, determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.

(IT) Interactions Among Text Elements

By the end of grade 12, analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

(TS) Text Structure

By the end of grade 12, analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.

(PP) Perspective and Purpose in Texts

By the end of grade 12, assess how perspective or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

(MF) Diverse Media and Formats

By the end of grade 12, synthesize content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.

(AA) Analysis of an Argument

By the end of grade 12, evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning, the credibility and accuracy of each source as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.

(CT) Comparison of Texts

By the end of grade 12, analyze and reflect on how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.